The European disaster risk reduction community gathered in Istanbul (26-28 March, 2017) to discuss the next steps in implementing the United Nations Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) 2015-2030 while preparing input for the UN Global Platform for DRR that will take place on May 22-26, 2017, in Cancun, Mexico.

The European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR) was established in 2009 to stimulate and facilitate the exchange of information and knowledge among the National DRR Focal Points, National Platforms and regional/sub regional partners. Organized under the Turkish Chairmanship of the of the EFDRR, the 2017 Open Forum was the first of the annual gathering of the European multi-stakeholder DRR community.

The high-level policy panel included the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr. Veysi Kaynak; the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Mr. Christos Stylianides; the director of the Democratic Governance Directorate of the Council of Europe, Ms. Claudia Luciani; and the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, Mr. Robert Glasser.
The discussion was then carried on in several plenary and six technical sessions, and more in detail:High Level Session: Creating incentives for Disaster Risk Reduction,Featured Event: Risk Governance – How to achieve the Sendai Target e) – risk informed national and local DRR strategies by 2020;Six Technical Sessions: Economic Risk Management in DRR; Land-use planning and management practices at the local level; Critical Infrastructure for Resilient Communities; Risk Assessment and Disaster Loss Database; Bridging disaster risk reduction and climate change for a sustainable future; Migration, Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience.

Zehra Zaidi and Jaroslav Mysiak (both CMCC Foundation researchers at RAAS Division) played an active role in these sessions as members of the organizational teams.
Jaroslav moderated the technical session 4 and served as member of the drafting team preparing the final declaration of the Open Forum.

Key outcomes of the EFDRR Open ForumA High-Level Communique was developed based on the contribution received from the High-Level session panellist: Mr Veysi KAYNAK, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr Christos Stylianides, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Ms Carlota Merchán Mesón, Member of the Spanish Parliament, Mr Paolo Garonna, the Secretary General of Italian Banking, Insurance and Finance Federation, Ms Claudia Luciani, Director of the Democratic Governance Directorate at the Council of Europe and Mr Robert Glasser, Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction who had been the moderator for the high-level session.Recommendations of the Europe Region for the 2017 Global Platform: The outcome drafting committee composed of the members of the EFDRR Friends of the Chair (Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Turkey) and multi-stakeholder representatives such as NGO, Persons with Disabilities, Academia, Private Sector, Local representative and Youth developed the final 2017 EFDRR Open Forum Istanbul outcome document.